Time-lock.



PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904.

E. A. MARSH.

TIME LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20, 1904.

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PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904. B. A. MARSH. TIME LOCK.

APPLIOATION nun r213. 20, 1904.

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NITED STATES Patented September 6, 1904.

ERNEST ALONZO MARSH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TIME-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,556, dated September 6, 1904.

Application filed February 20,1904. Serial No. 194,483. (No model.)

To (til whom it may concern:

Be it known that LERNEST ALoxzo Manse, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Time-Lock, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to time-locks-such, for instance, as are used for safes, vaults, and compartments of various kinds wherein valuables are stored.

My invention admits of general use, and comprises the parts and details and combinations thereof hereinafter described,and pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the lock complete. Fig. 2 is a section upon the hue 2 2 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a section upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the ar row. Fig. i is a section upon the line a it of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. is a plan view of a time-lock equipped with my invention, a portion of the casing being broken away, so as to exhibit the works; and Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of the means for keeping the gearing in motion while the lock-spring is being wound.

The door to be locked is indicated at 7, the bolt-casing at 8, provided with a lip 8 to be engaged by the hook 9, integral with the bolt 9, this belt being integral with the lockingbar 10. The casing 11 is provided with a number of back plates 12, 13, and 14, to which pillar-plates 16 are connected byspaeing-bolts 15, as indicated more particularly in Fig. 4. Housed within the subcasing 17 is the mainspring 18, the spring being connected with the subcasing and also with a winding-stem 19, there being two or more of these stems. Mounted upon each winding-stem 19 is a dialwheel 20, provided with ordinals 21, indicating the twenty-four hours of the complete day. Disposed immediately back of the dialwheel 20 and rigid upon the winding-stem 19 is a wheel 22, provided with a lug 23, which engages the several notches 24C, spacing apart the concave cogs or leaves 26 upon wheels 25. The wheels 25 are provided with ordinals 27, as indicated in Fig. 1. These ordinals together with the ordinals 21 enable the wheels 25 and 20 to serve as numbering-wheels, one revolution of the wheel 20 marking one additional unit, (indicated by the ordinals 27.) The wheels 22 and 25 together constitute a so-called Geneva stop.

Mounted upon a large shaft 28 and depending therefrom are the respective locking-bar hangers 29, provided with posts 30, upon which the locking-bars are pivoted, as indicated more particularly in Figs. 3 and l. Mounted upon the lockingbar 10 are a number of bosses 31, as indicated in Fig. 3. By means of these bosses the locking-bar can be thrown into its abnormal position. (Shown in Fig. 3.) Upon each pillar-plate 16 is secured a pin 32, and upon this pin is pivotally mounted a lever 33, which 1 term the locking-bar lever, for the reason that it actuates the locking-bar in one direction. This locking-bar lever 33 is provided with slots 34: 36, whereby it is enabled to swing at a slight angle, as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3. Each of these locking-barlevers is provided with a depending end 37 for engaging one of the bosses 31 and is provided with a pin 38, against which the lug 39 upon the wheel 25 may lodge, as indicated in Fig. 3, thereby causing the locking-bar lever 33 to swing into the position indicated in the cen ter of Fig. This throws the locking-bar 10 into its abnormal position, as indicated in Fig. 3, thereby causing the door to unlock. The revolution of the wheel 25 for the purpose just stated is caused by the running down of the clock, and the pin 38 is not reached by the lug 39 until the clock is almost run down. \Vhen the clock is being wound up, however, the wheel 25 is free to turn in the opposite direction-that is to say, in a direction which is left-handed, according to the view shown in Fig. 3 -until the lug 39 comes around against the under side of the pin 38, thus causing the levers 33 to swing into tl eir other extreme positions, each pin 38 thereby acting as a limiting-stop for the lug 39 and preventing the spring 18 from being wound too tightly. The locking-bar hangers are each provided with a sleeve 29, integral therewith, and connected with this sleeve is a spring 29, secured at 29 to the casing 11. This spring, as indicated in Fig. 2, is so tensioned as to normally maintain the locking-bar 10 in its extreme position of movement to the right, as indicated in this figure, thereby maintaining the bolt 9 in such position that the door is locked.

Rigidly connected with one of the windingstems 19 is a ratchet-wheel 40, engaged by a spring-pawl 41, mounted upon and carried by another ratchet-wheel, 42, the teeth of the ratchet-wheels 40 and 42 being disposed oppositely to each other, as indicated in Fig. 3. The ratchet-wheel 42 is engaged by the pawl 42, this pawl being mounted upon the plate 12. The ratchet-wheel 42 is connected by a spiral spring 43 with a gear-wheel 44, which actuates the several gear members 45, 46, 47,

' 48, and 49, this gearing being ordinary clockwork for moving the dial-wheels and thelocking-bar 10. An escapement 50 is connected with the gearing and actuated thereby for the purpose of preventing a too rapid movement of the several wheels and other parts. The several trains of clockwork shown are merely duplicates of each other, the idea being that it is unsafe to trust to one train of clockwork for actuating the time-lock. One train would be suflicient, however, if there were no liability of an accident to that train.

The operation of my device is as follows: In order to wind the clock, a key of suitable form is placed upon the winding-stem 19, and the same is turned, carrying with it the ratchetwheel 40, which is held against backward rotation by means of the spring-pawl 41. This causes the ratchet-wheel 42 to rotate in a lefthanded direction, as seen at the left of Fig. 3, and this wheel 42 is prevented from backward rotation by means of the pawl 42. The spiral spring 43 allows the ratchet-wheel 42 to make a part of a revolution relatively to the gearwheel 44, so that when the winding-stem 19 is given a slight rotation by the key in winding the tension of the spring 18 is thrown upon the wheel 42, and as this wheel by virtue of the spring connection 43 is movable to some extent relatively to the gear-wheel 44 the spring 43 is wound to its limit. In other words, the spring 18 before communicating motion to the gearing proper first winds the spring 43, and this spring being wound the connection between the ratchet-wheel 42 and the gear wheel 44 becomes comparatively rigid, and the two wheels just mentioned to.- gether communicate motion to the other members 45, 46, 47 48, and 49 of the gearing and finally to the escapement 50. In turning the stem 19, thereby Winding the spring 18, the dial-wheel 20 is turned in a right-handed direction, so that when the clock begins to unwind the dial-plate 2O begins to rotate in a lefthanded direction, as seen at the right of Fig. 3. Each complete rotation given to the dialwheel 20 in winding causes the lug 23 to turn the wheel 25 a distance represented by the distance apart of two of the notches 24. If, therefore, the wheel 25 be provided with seven ordinals 27, the spring 18 will propel the mechanism for a period of one week, this being the time required for seven complete revolutions of the dial-wheel 20 while the spring 18 is unwinding. If now the operator desires the safe to remain locked for any periodsay for an hour or a week-he merely turns the winding-stem 19 until the ordinals upon the two wheels indicate the desired time. He preferably winds all three of the stems 19, so that the several numbering mechanisms indicate the time for unlocking. This time being reached and the several springs being almost run down the several lugs 39 engage the several pins 38, as indicated in Fig. 3, the several levers 33 are turned slightly, as indicated in the center of Fig. 3, and the locking-bar is thereby shifted to the left, thus unlocking the door.' During the time while the winding-stem is being turned in order to maintain the motion of the train of gearing, or, in other words, to prevent the clockwork from stopping, the spring 43 is called into requisition. It will be seen from Fig. 4 that as the stem 19 is being turned in a right-handed direction the spring 18 is momentarily disconnected from the gearing, for the reason that the torque is transmitted by means of the pawl 41, which is momentarily out of engagement with the ratchet 40. The spiral spring 43 having been wound to its limit, as above described, causes the gearwheel 44 to keep the other gear members in motion, thus preventing the clock from stopping.

By having the dial-wheel revolve once in twenty-four hours the accuracy in the time of unlocking is greatly increased, for the reason that there is no danger of unlocking until at least within a fraction of an hour of the predetermined time.

It will be seen that a turn of the windingstem 19 means a turn of the dial-wheel 20 and one-seventh of a turn of the dial-wheel so that the wheel 20 in unwinding makes as many revolutions as there are days before which the bolt is to be drawn backward.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a time-lock, the combination of a locking-bar hanger for moving a bolt, spring-controlled mechanism for actuating said lockingbar hanger in one direction, motor mechanism for actuating said locking-bar in the opposite direction, said motor mechanism being adapted to be wound up, and a limitingst'op connected with said motor mechanism to prevent overwinding thereof.

2. In a time-lock, the combination of dial- IIO Wheels provided respectively with ordinals of ditlerent denominations, said dial-Wheels being adapted to be read ofi' together in the capacity of numbering-Wheels, a single pointer common to all dial-Wheels and disposed intermediate of the same for severally indicating the relative positions thereof, time-controlled mechanism for changing the relative positions of said dial-wheels, and mechanism actuated by said time-controlled mechanism for IO unlocking a door.

In testimony whereof .l. have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERNEST ALONZO MARSH.

\Vitnesses:

G. D. LANE, K. \V. BLACK. 

